Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Alpaca Adventure
Today was a fantastic day of exploring. We had breakfast at our hostel, then set off for the bakery Nate was so eager to have last night... and voila we found it! Delicious truffles (chocolate of course), and some orange juice to get the sugar going. There are so many cute hole in the wall spots for food, it was honestly had to narrow down where we wanted to eat! After enjoying the tasty breakfast, we decided to explore Sacsayhuman (pronounced sexy women) and it was absolutely stunning. We will upload the pictures as soon as we can, but it was full of Inka ruins. And to go along with this post´s title, alpaca were everywhere! Built around the 1400s (might want to double check that, we lost our fact sheet...), we were amazed at not only the view - it is placed above the city, so looking down you can see ALL of Cusco and the mountains that surround it - but also the sheer talent it took to place each and every stone to make it what it is today. Tons of exploring opportunities in caves, secret passages, open fields, mazes, etc - just an amazing place to be. Right next door, was White Christ - the largest statue we have ever seen (over 6 meters tall). It also overlooked the entire city, watching down on all of Cusco.
Realizing all we had eaten thus far into the day was bread and a bakery item, it was time to eat. Making our way down the path, we also brainstormed the possibility of seeing Machu Piccu in the next couple days. Once we got back to the hostel we talked to the ¨travel agent¨ the hostel provides and unfortunately all the bus and train rides into Machu Picchu are booked for the next couple days. BUT we decided we would do our hike now instead! So over dinner, we planned our hike. We had guinea pig and alpaca cordon blue, and it was delicious; a little odd eating my previous pet and even weirder seeing the roasted animal right in front of me... but, as they say, when in Rome, or as we say, when in Cusco! We will see Machu Picchu while in the country though, not to worry.
We are set to leave early tomorrow monring en route for the Ausangate Circuit, so we will not be blogging or in contact for a little over a week. But when we get back, we will upload our pictures (already have 150!) and tell you all about the hike!
Until then,
Maddy and Nate
Realizing all we had eaten thus far into the day was bread and a bakery item, it was time to eat. Making our way down the path, we also brainstormed the possibility of seeing Machu Piccu in the next couple days. Once we got back to the hostel we talked to the ¨travel agent¨ the hostel provides and unfortunately all the bus and train rides into Machu Picchu are booked for the next couple days. BUT we decided we would do our hike now instead! So over dinner, we planned our hike. We had guinea pig and alpaca cordon blue, and it was delicious; a little odd eating my previous pet and even weirder seeing the roasted animal right in front of me... but, as they say, when in Rome, or as we say, when in Cusco! We will see Machu Picchu while in the country though, not to worry.
We are set to leave early tomorrow monring en route for the Ausangate Circuit, so we will not be blogging or in contact for a little over a week. But when we get back, we will upload our pictures (already have 150!) and tell you all about the hike!
Until then,
Maddy and Nate
Monday, September 3, 2012
So far so good!
We are safe and sound in Peru. Everything went smoothly in the airport - no lost bags or anything - and we almost got bumped to a flight Sunday afternoon which would mean free dinner, free flight in the future (ie our flight home), free hotel for the night, but due to open seats and having too many volunteers, we flew out Saturday night.
When we arrived, we had a nice man waiting for us from the Hostel we stayed at. Good thing too because the taxi drivers were all over the place at the airport, and it was nice to have a ride waiting for us. Driving through Lima, Peru... Holy. Smokes. No idea how people even get a driver´s license here becuase apparently using your turn signal, and looking over your shoulder are optional. Pretty sure I was holding my breath the entire ride to the Hostel - but we did make it all in one piece! Upon arrival to the hostel, everyone was extremely welcoming and just wanted to have a good time. Since it was our first time in Peru, the bartender gave us a free shot! Good way to statrt out adventure...
We slept in the next morning, had breakfast at the hostel, then set out for what seemed to be a quick walk to the bus stop for our ride to Cusco. It was great walking around - SUCH an active city. Everyone is biking, walking, roller blading, or scootering around the city. They even close down streets for people to do such activities , it was awesome to see all the families out. After looking at a map, we realized we were a bit futher from the bus stop than we thought, so we waved down a cab.
Arriving at the bus stop four hours early, we had some time to walk around. The market experience here is crazy - people set up blankets of just stuff and it ranges from sun glasses, to tv remotes, to children´s action figures, you name it, they had it on the street! Makes the side walk a bit crowded, but we survived. We found an amazing hole in the wall restauant - I was personally addicted to the mayo they served. Weird I know, but we had 2 different kinds of chicken, rice, and french fries, and we gobbled it all up!
22 bus ride was next. We bought seats that were able to recline all the way (I was thinking yeah right this is going to be a 22 hour megabus experience) but to my surprise, the seats reclined all the way, the brought us food and we watched movies (with english subtitles)! Went way better than expected!
Arriving in Cusco was great - we walked around, climbed up the Monumento Inka Pachacuteq that gave us a full view of the city (after being in higher elevation for, oh, 15 minutes, I wouldn´t recommend hiking a TOWER right away... but it was worth it.) We then walked to our hostel where we are now and just explored the interesting city of Cusco. Went to the cathedral, tried to find a bakery Nate had his eye on, but magically dissappeared - he is extremely determined to find it tomorrow). Had a tasty dinner - still on the hunt for guinnea pig!
Next couple days are up in the air - but Machu Picchu is on the list
Going to go grab a beer and take a free salsa dancing class!
Love and miss you all!
Maddy
When we arrived, we had a nice man waiting for us from the Hostel we stayed at. Good thing too because the taxi drivers were all over the place at the airport, and it was nice to have a ride waiting for us. Driving through Lima, Peru... Holy. Smokes. No idea how people even get a driver´s license here becuase apparently using your turn signal, and looking over your shoulder are optional. Pretty sure I was holding my breath the entire ride to the Hostel - but we did make it all in one piece! Upon arrival to the hostel, everyone was extremely welcoming and just wanted to have a good time. Since it was our first time in Peru, the bartender gave us a free shot! Good way to statrt out adventure...
We slept in the next morning, had breakfast at the hostel, then set out for what seemed to be a quick walk to the bus stop for our ride to Cusco. It was great walking around - SUCH an active city. Everyone is biking, walking, roller blading, or scootering around the city. They even close down streets for people to do such activities , it was awesome to see all the families out. After looking at a map, we realized we were a bit futher from the bus stop than we thought, so we waved down a cab.
Arriving at the bus stop four hours early, we had some time to walk around. The market experience here is crazy - people set up blankets of just stuff and it ranges from sun glasses, to tv remotes, to children´s action figures, you name it, they had it on the street! Makes the side walk a bit crowded, but we survived. We found an amazing hole in the wall restauant - I was personally addicted to the mayo they served. Weird I know, but we had 2 different kinds of chicken, rice, and french fries, and we gobbled it all up!
22 bus ride was next. We bought seats that were able to recline all the way (I was thinking yeah right this is going to be a 22 hour megabus experience) but to my surprise, the seats reclined all the way, the brought us food and we watched movies (with english subtitles)! Went way better than expected!
Arriving in Cusco was great - we walked around, climbed up the Monumento Inka Pachacuteq that gave us a full view of the city (after being in higher elevation for, oh, 15 minutes, I wouldn´t recommend hiking a TOWER right away... but it was worth it.) We then walked to our hostel where we are now and just explored the interesting city of Cusco. Went to the cathedral, tried to find a bakery Nate had his eye on, but magically dissappeared - he is extremely determined to find it tomorrow). Had a tasty dinner - still on the hunt for guinnea pig!
Next couple days are up in the air - but Machu Picchu is on the list
Going to go grab a beer and take a free salsa dancing class!
Love and miss you all!
Maddy
Friday, August 31, 2012
The first of many
Tomorrow we start our adventure! Thanks to everyone that has shown support and encouragement. We will arrive in Lima, Peru tomorrow night and plan on enjoying some sleep and then heading out the next morning for Cuzco. The plan is to head to Machu Picchu after acclimating for a couple days. After that we plan on hiking the Ausangate Circuit. Then we will head further up North to Iquitos and hike along the way (Santa Cruz Trek). We don't want to spoil all the details now. So stay tuned.
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